The gaming area of a casino is normally divided into sections with each section offering a different game of chance to its patrons. Each section of the casino is, in turn, occupied by a plurality of gaming tables, with each gaming table offering an aesthetic appearance to enhance the attraction to patrons. Tables also include table security to protect the integrity of the game during the play and to some extent, to protect the dealer. The dealer is primarily responsible for providing table protection and game integrity, but in the absence of adequate surveillance cameras and the like, his efforts can be compromised by professional cheaters. Existing gaming tables are provided with various electronic devices, such as monitors positioned near each player which require the provision of various electrical hookups and the like. To accommodate the requirements of the gaming table, electrical hookups are provided through the floor in the general location of each of the tables.
The demand for the various games of a casino will change over time. A casino will at one time find the tables in a first section dedicated to a first game of chance all in use while only a fraction of the tables in a second section dedicated to a second game of chance are in use. At another time only a fraction of the tables of the first game will be in use while all the tables of the second game are in use. Under such circumstances, the space of a casino floor would be more efficiently used if the mix of tables allocated to the first and second games of chance could be readily increased or decreased to accommodate the preferences of the patrons. However, it is presently very difficult for a casino to reallocate the number of tables available for each of the games.
One method of altering the mix of tables allocated to the various games of chance has been to provide replaceable leaves for the upper surfaces of the tables such that the table can be converted from one game to another by replacing the leaves which form its upper surface as described in our prior patent 5,839,960. Replacing the leaves of the table will facilitate the changing from a first game to a second game where the table requirements of both the first and second games are approximately the same. For example, a blackjack table may be converted into a poker table by replacing the leaves of the upper surface. A roulette table, on the other hand, is not readily convertible to a craps table or a poker table.
One of factors which has inhibited casinos from readily changing the mix of tables on the gaming floor has been the need for surveillance to maintain the integrity of the game being played on the table. In the past surveillance has been carried out by providing cameras in the ceiling of the establishment. The size and configuration of various gaming tables may differ greatly from game to game, and therefor the surveillance requirements of the various games are correspondingly different from game to game. The surveillance needs of a crap table, for example are different from the needs of a roulette table, and any effort to change the mix between two such types of tables will also require the reconfiguration of the cameras needed for surveillance. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a method whereby the mix of tables dedicated to each game of a casino could be easily altered without compromising the need for adequate surveillance or aesthetic qualities which protect and attract patrons.